Hikite ueshi hito wa mube koso oinikere matsu no kodakaku narinikeru kana - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

引きて植ゑし人はむべこそ老いにけれ
松の木高くなりにけるかな

Roma-ji: Hikite ueshi hito wa mube koso oinikere matsu no kodakaku narinikeru kana
English Translation: The one who pulled and planted
it has aged, no wonder now—
the pine tree's branches
have grown up so very tall,
so very high, I see
Meaning: No wonder the one who pulled up the seedling and planted it has grown old—see how tall the pine has grown!
Commentary: Book Fifteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1107

Headnote: "Around the time I had finished my term as an official of Awaji and come up to the capital, at Lord Kanesuke's house in Awata."
The poet says that no wonder the one who pulled up and planted the pine has grown old, for the pine has grown so tall. Back in the capital after his term in Awaji, he senses in the growth of the pine at Kanesuke's house the years that have passed and the coming of old age.
According to the headnote, it was composed at Fujiwara no Kanesuke's house in Awata, around the time he finished his term as an official in Awaji and came up to the capital. Mitsune served as Provisional Secretary of Awaji.
The poet, "Mitsune," is Ōshikōchi no Mitsune. One of the compilers of the Kokinshu, he is counted among the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals. The Ogura Hyakunin Isshu includes his poem "Kokoroate ni oraba ya oramu hatsushimo no."
The first line of the main text reads "hikite ueshi," which does not match "hiki ueshi" in the kana reading line. Here the main text is followed.

The first line, "Hikite ueshi," means "who pulled up and planted," with an extra syllable. It refers to the person who pulled up a young pine and planted it.
The second line, "hito wa mube koso," means "that person, no wonder," with "mube" expressing that something makes sense. "Koso" is an emphatic binding particle closed by the perfective form "kere" in the third line.
The third line, "oinikere," means "has grown old," closing the "koso" of the second line. The poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "matsu no kodakaku," means "the pine, so tall," with "kodakashi" describing trees grown high and thick.
The last line, "narinikeru kana," means "how it has grown," showing his feeling at learning the length of the years from the pine's growth. It supplies the reason for the lament of the third line in inverted order.
Author: Oshikochi no Mitsune
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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